1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for producing porous polymer masterbatch and fiber thereof that have anti-bacterial and odor eliminating functions, and in particular, to a process for producing anti-bacterial and odor eliminating polymer masterbatch and fiber thereof containing organic or inorganic materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the demand for a modern hygienic life increases, anti-bacterial products have gradually received more welcome from consumers. This trend extends to the textile industry and has resulted into considerable progress in the production of anti-bacterial fibers and clothing and other daily use articles.
Anti-bacterial agent used in the anti-bacterial fiber can be divided generally into two types, namely, an organic anti-bacterial agent, and an inorganic anti-bacterial agent. One of the organic anti-bacterial agents is quaternary ammonium salt. Unfortunately, quaternary ammonium salt has poor heat resistance and can not be used in the process for making plastics or fiber spinning products.
On the other hand, an inorganic anti-bacterial agent is a carrier (for example zeolite) containing metal ions (for example Ag+, Zn2+, Cu2+), or certain types of nano-scale metal particles (for example nano-scale silver particles), and both are considered as effective particles in the following description.
Silver has a well-accepted anti-bacterial effect. In general, an antibiotic can kill approximately six different types of bacteria, while silver can kill about 600 types of bacteria. In addition, silver is a non-toxic substance, and therefore silver is used extensively and has a long history. Furthermore, through nanotechnology techniques, silver particles become more active and their anti-bacterial function is enhanced, thereby promoting the quality of the home environment and personal hygiene. Aqueous solutions containing silver ions released from both nano-scale silver granules and nanometer silver has remarkable anti-bacterial effect. Under the circumstance of multiple dilutions, nanometer silver still has an inhibition efficiency of 99.99% against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Sarmonella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the like. The principal cause of this resides in the biological action that silver has itself. Active silver ions can attract the sulfhydryl group on the enzymatic protein in the bacteria and causes these groups to quickly bind with each other, thereby rendering the enzymes containing sulfhydryl groups to lose activity and hence kill the bacteria.
A traditional process for using silver ion to produce fiber comprises immersing fiber in an organic anti-bacterial agent so as to adhere a carrier or nanometer silver particle on the surface of the fiber. In such traditional processes, effective particles in the anti-bacterial inorganic solvent may be easily washed off, and at the same time, may easily induce an allergic response in the user. Another process for producing anti-bacterial fiber comprises mixing an inorganic anti-bacterial agent and polyester, and then drawing the mixture thus-obtained into fibers containing effective particles. In such a process for making anti-bacterial fiber, most of the anti-bacterial materials are embedded within the fiber, and hence the anti-bacterial and odor eliminating functions are unable to be exhibited. Furthermore, part of the anti-bacterial material exposed on the outside of the fiber might lose its anti-bacterial and odor eliminating functions after washing or dying and finishing due to binding with chlorine, sulfur and the like.
In view of the foregoing, conventional techniques mentioned above still have many disadvantages, poorly designed and needs to be improvement.
The inventor had learned of the various disadvantages and shortcomings derived from such conventional techniques described above, and had thought to improve and innovate, and finally, after studying intensively for many years, has developed a process for producing porous polymer masterbatch and fiber thereof that have anti-bacterial and odor eliminating functions according to the invention.